Geibikei (猊鼻渓), along with Genbikei (厳美渓), are two famous gorges in Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Japan, with Geibikei being the more famous of the two. Geibikei is about 30 minutes by bus from Ichinoseki Station and 30 minutes by train on the Ofunato Line also from Ichinoseki Station. Geibikei’s main appeal is that you take a boat ride down a shallow river that runs between cliffs as tall as 100 meters (about 328 feet).

Round trip the boat ride takes about 90 minutes and at the half way point you can get off the boat and walk around some before coming back. The boats run from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm in the spring and summer, until 4:00 pm in November and from December to March run from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Bringing food and drinks is allowed but be warned there are little to no trash cans, so you will be holding your trash.

The boat ride and scenery is very beautiful and relaxing, though as you might imagine, the 100 meter cliffs can make for some difficult lighting situations if you are trying to take photographs. That being said, you should still l be able to get some good shots. I went during the fall which was beautiful, but if you can bear the cold, I imagine after a fresh snow this place is really nice as well. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Genbikei (厳美渓), along with Geibikei (猊鼻渓), are two famous gorges in Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Japan, with Geibikei being the more famous of the two. Genbikei can easily be reached by bus in about 30 minutes from Ichinoseki station. While being the less famous of the two gorges, if you are in Iwate Prefecture it is still worth checking out. I went in the fall season but the Genbikei claims that it offers a spectacular view during all four seasons.

There are a few trails you can walk along and follow Genbikei and the Iwai River that flows through it, but they are not so easily accessible. I did not walk too far so maybe at some point upstream it becomes more accessible but you can will probably be content after spending about 45 minutes or an hour there.

Actually, Genbikei might be most famous for it’s “Flying Dango.” Dango is a sticky riceball that comes in various favors such as seaseme (goma), red bean paste (an), or my personal favorite (the one with light brown sauce on the right), soy sauce (mitarashi). Genbikei has “Flying Dango” because a restaurant on one side of the gorge sends it to the other side of the gorge via rope and basket.

The Tōhoku region (東北地方,Tōhoku-chihō) which means “northeast,” is most northern region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. The region consists of six prefectures: Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata Prefectures.

Tōhoku retains a reputation as a remote region, offering breathtaking scenery but a harsh climate. Tōhoku, like most of Japan, is hilly or mountainous, with the Ou Mountains forming running north-south. Also public transportation is not as abundant as other regions but more so than Hokkaido. In Japan, Tohoku receives the fewest foreign visitors a year, but that does not mean it is not worth traveling to. Actually this area is really beautiful , especially in the Fall. Also if you like nature or want to escape the city, but can’t or don’t want to make the trip to Hokkaido, Tohoku is a very nice place to visit/photograph. Be prepared though, a lot of the good places are spread out. If you like hot springs, Tohoku has many famous ones and in the winter there are many good places to ski/snowboard. Here are a few places that are worth considering going to as a photographer/traveler: